To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

i r annum in advance l : ' â€ž si per square for the first neut inserti n court or 'â– ' higher speech of mr hudson of m issachi 1 1 >â€ž//" subject of lh â€¢'<"' lh mi '"'"â€¢ h i . ri n â– '" may 14,1846 the house being in committee of the i'hole on the army appropriation bill mr 11 >: v having obtained the 0^r ' chairman under ordina circ ' e s i should nol have inti ti ed myself upon ihe attention ofthecom aittee but we are now at war with a . tc â€¢ we are engaged in a con f c ( ] by the executive with f a nd in direct violation ol de fundamental principles of our consti u ; on . believing this to in the case 1 l el it inv dutv to bear testimony against | ure ; and i am the more in p.,,,1 to do i his because i was one of the w or as g ntlemcn on the other side of i [|, ,-,- have sneeringly said one of i i . /-â€ž,',/.- fin n who had the inde to follow their own sense of du | to vote a cording to the dictates r own consciences i bring no ac i others the subject was y i lie majority of the house in s irra sing form and gentle . honesty of purpose might differ poo the final vote as j claim sincerity r myself 1 do not question the sincerity r my friends whose minds were brought , adilferent re rjrcntleman from lupinis mr ;--..; in r ply lo my ii iendivoiii ohio air delano has told the committee that : is treason to the country to denounce e war now it is declared he seems to dmit that the remarks of the member pom ' ' . u would have been unobjection il they had been made before the war ill become a law but sir i recognise ii distinction under the circumstan the case we know the manner \ which thai bill was passed the hot haste rith which it was passed through this louse and i intend that it shall be known ilsewh so far as my feeble powers ixtend 1 intend the country shall know pith v hat rashness and indecent haste all lie evils of war have been brought upon he country a message was received torn the president of the united states ith lefi . too ir relations with mex o this message was accompanied with aluminous correspondence which passed etween our < jovernment and mexico and iso between the executive and general aylor the house resolved itself into 11 immittee of the \\ hole to consider the ct the d bate by a vote of the ominant party was limited to the short pace ol two hours one houranda half f that time was consumed in reading the orrespondence and even then one half ithe papers were not read the chair lanofthe committee on military affairs ailed up t bill which had been for some ime upon our tables which simply au borized the president to accept the servi ces of volunteers should they be necessa ry to defend our own soil or repel inva lion from our territory this bill was uu er debate for some thirty minutes but no ivhig was able to obtain fhe floor then or the first time a declaration of war vas mentioned and sundry amendments ti that effect wen offered when the ime for discussion expired the committee lassed upon the amendments and the bill vas immediately reported to the house md passed under the previous question â€” rhus sir was war declared after a de ite of some thirty minutes only and that confined entirely to a few brief remarks ior four members of the democratic par y not tin individual of the minority was permitted to say a word upon the great uid absorbing question of peace and war fhe house knows and the country shall know the hasty and inconsiderate man lier in which they have been involved in till the horrors of war a grosser instance f precipitancy and rashness cannot be found in the history of any assembly call ing itself a deliberative body thus sir were the whig party in the house compelled by a tyrannic majority lo pass iqipn this gi^-at question without a single word of debate on their part and without having one-half of the documents which were submitted by the president lead ! and now we are told by the mem bers of the same dominant party that it is treasonable to speak against a measure thus hastily & tyrannically forced through the house without debate amid seems of excitement and confusion opposition to this measure we are told would have been proper before it had passed but now being at war all opposition to the mea sure shows a want of patriotism and a disposition to take sides with the enemy rsir 1 admit no such principle 1 will sub mit to no such iron rule and has it come to this that all debate is to be suppressed in this hallâ€”that freedom of speech is to be denied to the representatives of a free people .' a doctrine more despotic was never advanced according to this doc trine il the president led on by vain am bition or by treasonable desire to raise himself to a throne on the ruins of our free government has the wickedness to tram ple upon the prerogatives of congress and commence an unjust war with a foreign power we are to submit in silence be cause hostilities have already commenced we are to stand by in meek submission and see our rights invaded and the pro perty and lives of our citizens wautonlj sacrificed because a drilled majority o political partisans may have succeeded ii pressing through congress without de bate an endorsement of executive usur pation i say sir i will countenance in such doctrine i will submit to no sucl dogma under ihe peculiar eircumstan ccs of the case 1 will speak and speak a freely this day as i would have spoken ot the carolina watchman bruner & james / > " kr:f.r a ciir.ci itan ai.i rouu editors sc proprietors \ is safe ' { new series rfi.er.s do tin am liberty geu'l harrison ( number 10 op volume iii salisbury n c friday july 3 1846 monday last and though 1 ho gentleman from illinois very modestly brands those as cowards who voted against ihe decla ration of war i will assure him that i have the moral courage to speak my own sentiments ; and neither his dogmatical declarations nor the awful nods of his head shall restrain me 1 will speak as i think regardless of the frowns or sneers of that gentleman or his riends 1 make no pre tensions to bravery but it frequently re pjiri s more moral courage to stand alone r with a small minority than it docs to ' follow the multitude in the moment of opular excitement mr chairman i was one of the four cen who voted against the passage of the kvar bill 1 voted against it for various easons and among others for this : 1 be ieve the preamble and its repetition in he first section of the bill to be untrue the preamble is as follows : " whereas y the act of mexico a state of war ex sts between that government and the united states now sir 1 regard this preamble as ut terly falseâ€”false as a whole and false in ach of its recitals it is not true that war existed before the passage of that act there had been a collision between our roops and those of mexico but a colli sion of forces in a single instance and at particular point does not amount lo war n the legal and constitutional sense ol mat term by the constitution of this country and of mexico the power to de dare war is vested in congress and nol n the president or the commanding gen eral we have no authority for saying hat the mexican government had declar ed war and we know lhat onr congress kid given no authority to ihe president to narch his troops upon a disputed territo ry in possession of the mexicans there s also a manifest distinction between lios ilitics and tear when war is proclaim ed by the constituted authority the whole lation and the world arc bound to take mgnizance of it and to govern them selves according to rules of constitutional nid interna!ional law put there may be utbreaks or collisions at a particular mint hostilities within a limited sphere md even letters of marque and reprisal nay bo granted to one or more injured iiibjects under certain circumstances and villi suitable limitations without being a a state of war in the legal sense of that ciiu when war exists neutral nations ire bound to take notice of it but the ame is not true in every case of hostility a'e have several examples in our own bis on which will illustrate this distinction the attack upon the chesapeake by an mglish cruiser before the late war with england was an act of hostility but nei hcr nation regarded it as a war the tame is true of the destruction of the car dine on the canadian frontier the cap ure of monterey a mexican town upon he pacific by commodore jones in l>ti:j s another case in point each of these ases shows that there may be acts of hos ility between the forces of the two pow ers and yet tlie relations of peace may be m'cscrvcd the declaration therefore hat war existed is not sustained by facts ive had no evidence of its existence at hat time on tlie contrary all the evi lence we had before us went to sustain lie opposite conclusion i could not there on 1 subscribe to the declaration that war tlready existed ihe preamble states not only that war sxists but that ii exists hi the act of the republic of mexico this declaration i ielicve to be untrue mexico with all ler faults has not in this case been the tggressor the statement which ascrib ed the war to the acts of mexico is clear y and conclusively contradicted by the acts in the case 1 might go back to the jommencement of the revolution in tex ts and show that the government of the nitcd siatcs have not maintained a pol cy strictly neutral as they were bound to lo put in the act of annexation wc not nly violated our own organic law but violated our faith pledged to mexico by solemn treaty put sir i will not rely upon that act unjust as i believe that to have been 1 will take the case as it stood after the joint resolution was passed and 1 believe that our conduct towards mexico is entirely indefensible texas was annexed to the united states and on the supposition that that act was valid what ditl it include ? what did we an nex ? the old province of texas was bounded on the southwest by the xueces which does not approach within one hun dred and fifty milesofthepositionoccupied general taylor the texas which has been annexed to the united states was the old province of texas ; the texas which formed one of the states or depart ments of mexico : the texas which re belled against the parent government and set up a government for herself in a word the texas which was bounded bv the river xueces it is true that the tex â– " since the delivery of tins speech we have receiv ed ihe manifesto of paredes dated â€¢â€¢ national palace t mexico april j l846 only en day before the col lision on the rio grande in which he says rnosl em phatically â€¢â€¢ / s mnly announce that i d i not declare war against the united states of america because it â€¢>< rtains to the unjust congress of the nation and not to the executive to settle definitely the reparation which so many aggressions 1 maud but the ol mexican territory which the united states i psin vaii is an urgent necessity and my responsibility would be immense before the nation did i no . . to rej i act like < icnr.es i . commanded an congress m 1830 passed an act declar ing that their republic was bounded wes terly by the rio grande but what title bad she to the territory lying west of her original limits she could have none but that of conquest and did she ever carry her conquest up to the rio grande ' xo thing like it everv attempt she made proved a signal failure the population upon the iiio grande never rebelled a gainst mexico were never conquered by texas or submitted to texan law or au thority texas made several attempts to plant her standard upon the banks of that river but in every attempt her forces were either captured or driven back ? with what propriety then can we maintain that the wilderness or desert country be tween the xueces and rio grande ever belonged to texas a large strip of country on the left or eastern bank of the iiio grande has ever been in possession of mexico and we have acknowledged that possession both before and after an nexation at the last session of congress an act was passed allowing a drawback upon foreign merchandise imported into this country and exported to canada and mexico and among the places mention ed in mexico was santa fe and during this session m secretary walker in his report on the finances says " the act of march 3d is 15 allowing a drawback on foreign imports exported from certain of our ports to canada and also to santa fe and chihuahua in mexico has gone to some extent into effect and is beginning to produce the most happy result here sir we have the most positive re cognition on the part of our government that santa fe belongs to mexico and is included within her lawful territory but every one knows that santa fe is on he east side of the rio grande how then can it be pretended for a single moment that the whole country or any part of the country bordering upon that river belongs to texas and hence is a part of the uni ted states ? there is no authority at all for that plea not one particle of proof that the iiio grande is our true boundary except the act of the texan congress and that we have confessed to be invalid by admitting santa fe a town on the east side of that river to be a part of the mex ican territory at that place we have a consul ; there we have been paying duties oil merchandise ; and when the expedi tion to santa fe was captured our gov ernment interceded with the mexican go vernment for the release of our citizens admitting in the correspondence itself that santa fe rightfully belonged to the mex \ ican republic though our government had by public acts acknowledged the country bordering upon the rio grande on tbe east to he Â» . part of the republic of mexico the trea ty got up by presdient tyler and his se cretary of state attempted clandestinely to obtain all the territory east of that ri ver the language of tiie treaty was ge neral it provided that the republic of texas with all its territory should be ce ded to the united states but sir though this language was general and seemed to imply that the country ceded was nothing more than texas properâ€”the country bounded westerly by the xuecesâ€”yet when the president was pressed by the senate to furnish a map and description df the country to be annexed he laid be fore them a map of the country to the rio grande with the clause of the act of the texan congress churning all the country 3ast of that river but mr calhoun the secretary of state though he had allixed his name to that stealthy treaty and was the master-spirit in the whole transaction feeling conscious as it would seem that the act of texan congress had no validi ty in his note to mr green our charge at mexico enjoined it upon him to assure the mexican government that the bound aries were not lixed and that this gov ernment would exercise a liberal policy in relation to that subject his words are these you are enjoined also by the president to assure the mexican govern that it is his desire to settle all questions between the two countries which may grow out of the treaty or any other cause on the most liberal ami satisfactory terms including that of boundary ,* and with that view the minister who has been re cently appointed will be shortly sent with adequate powers in the same note he directs mr green to assure the mexican government " that the government of the united states has taken every precaution to make the terms of the treaty as little objectionable to mexico as possible : and among others has left the boundary of texas without specification so that the boundary might be an open question to be fairly and fully discussed and settled according to the rights of each and the mutual interest and security of the two countries xow sir does not this amount to a full confession on the part of mr calhoun that the iiio grande was not the boundary of texas if he relied upon the act of the texan congress why permit the line to be drawn in question and propose to sub mit it to negotiation ? the fact is that the act of the texan congress is a perfect nullity xo man knows better than mr calhoun that a boundary is a question to be settled by two nations and any decla ration by one is c ntirely void settling territorial limits is to be regarded in the light of a contract and as necessarily im plies two parties as any other contract whatever hence it is the very perfec tion of absurdity to rely upon the declar ation of texas as deciding this question it is therefore a matter of profound as tonishment that the president in his late message should so presume upon the ig norance of congress as to present that e4ij parte act of texas as having any bearing upon this question but the treat was rejected by the senate ; and no objection was urged with more force than the one we arc considering that it attempted to carry the western boundary of texas to the iiio grande far beyond the true lim its of texas the distinguished senator from mis souri mr benton when speaking a gainst the treaty said " the one half of the department of xew mexico with its capital becomes the property of the united states ; an an gle of chilihuahua also becomes ours ; a part of the department of coahuila not populated on the left bank which we take but commanded from the right by mexi can authorities ; the same of tamaulipas which covers both sides of the river from its mouth for some hundred miles up and all the left bank of which is in the power and possession of mexico these in ad dition to old texasâ€”these parts of four statesâ€”these towns and villagesâ€”these people and territoryâ€”these flocks and herdsâ€”this slice of the republic of mexi co two thousand miles long and some hundred broadâ€”all this our president has cut off from its mother empire and pre sents to us and declares it ours till the senate rejects it ! " the treaty in all that relates to the roundary of the iiio grande is an act of inparalleled outrage on mexico it is the eizure of two thousand miles of her ter itory without a word of explanation with ler and by virtue of a treaty with texas o which she is no party " having shown the effects of the trea ty on the iiio grande frontier i take up he treaty itself and under all its aspects ind in its whole extent and assume four tositions in relation to it viz : " 1 that the ratification of the treaty would be of itself a war between the united states and mexico " 2 that it would be an unjust war 3 that it would be"a war unconsti utiunalh made " 4 that it would be war upon a iceah md groundless pretext the treaty failing the subject at the iext session was brought forward in a form to obviate in some degree this ob cction of the senator of missouri the oint resolution of annexation provides hat the " territory properly incltitled uith n and rightfully belonging to the jiepub ic of texas may be erected into a stated vic but the first condition imposed upon fexas in the resolution was this â€¢' said state to be formed subject to the adjust nent by this government of all questions f boundary that may arise with our gov ernment here sir we have a full recognition if the unsettled state of the western boun lary of texas the language is selected villi cautionâ€”"the territory properly in cluded within and rightfully belonging to texas and this is followed with aprovis on that all questions of boundary which nay arise wilh other governments shall be settled by the united states and that oth r government these provisions can lave no significancy on the supposition hat the boundary mentioned by tlie tex in congress is valid not only the reso utions of annexation implied that the boundary of texas did not extend to the iiio grande but mr c j ingersoll the chairman of the committee on foreign affairs who brought the subject before he house and opened the debate gave as the fullest assurance that it did not ap proach within a hundred miles of that riv er his declaration is this : the terri torial limits of texas are marked in the configuration of this continent by an al mighty hand the stupendous deserts be tween the rivers xueces and bravo rio jrrande and the natural boundaries be tween the anglo-saxon and the mauri tanian races there ends the valley of the west there mexico begins while peace is cherished that boundary will be sacred aot till the spirit of conquest ra ges will the people on either side molest or mix with each other he virtually admits that we shall have no right even up to the desert by virtue of annexing texas for he speaks of buying our peace with mexico and obtaining the country up to the great desert by the offer of mo ney " although the public correspon dence between the two aorth american republics says he " has become angry i am happy to be authorized to assure the house that those best acquainted with toe true state of things apprehend little or no danger of warâ€”the main sinew of war money will heal the breach and the contro versy amicably i ere is a frank confess ion that the contemplated boundary was the great desert and even that could be obtained only by the payment of money and what has been the policy of our gov ernment since the adoption of that joinj resolution ? why the president informed us in his annual message that he had ap pointed a distinguished citizen of louisi ana and sent him to mexico to adjusi and definitely settle all pending differen ces between the two countries including those of boundary between mexico and the state of texas and in his recent mo sage be says that mr slidell " was en trusted with full powers to adjust both the questions of the texas boundary and of in demnification of our citizens " now in view of all these numerous confessions on tin part ol our own gov ernment is it not perfectly preposterous in the executive to maintain that our ti tle is clear and unquestionable up to the rio grande ? have we any better claim to the country up to ihe bank of that river opposite matamoros than we have in the neighborhood of santa fe i the president in his late message relies upon the act of the texan congress which made the iiio grande through its whole course the boundary when he himself through his secretary of the treasury has told that santa fe on the east of that river is included in the republic of mexi co but sir while i am upon this subject i wish to pay my respects to the gentle men from illinois mr douglass who fa vored us with his views upon the subject yesterday the gentlemen gave us as rare a specimen of advancing and re treating of playing off and on as we of ten witness in the first place he at tempted to substantiate our title to the whole country east of the rio grande bv referring to the early boundaries of tex as but after he had demonstrated that lo his own satisfaction he confessed lhat these old boundaries and conseqently his argument founded upon them was noth ing to his purpose the question he said ivas not how the province of texas was sounded but how the lit public 0 f texas was bounded in this he yielded all ar guments drawn from the boundaries pri r to ln.'jg : and then to show that he had 10 settled principle upon the subject he eturned to the question of the early bound lry and referred to tlie argument of my renerable colleague mr adams when ie was secretin of state this vacil ating course this employing and reject ng almost every argument in succession tas left but little which requires anv re ly there are however a few points vhich demand a passing notice the gentleman told us that there were some soldiers in the revolutionary army of tex is who came from the country west of he xueces and from this he argued that ill that country fell within the republic if texas but does not every one see he utter fallacy of this reasoning ? i pre ume there might have been some sol iiers in the texan army from the countrv vest of the xueces but to every one west f that river there were i presume ten rom the country east of the sabine nd if this fact proves that the country jetween the xueces and the iiio grande â€¢ s included in texas the same argument vould prove that a large section of the u states was rightfully included in that tepublic but sir the question is not rom what country or section of country lie soldiers came but over what country lid they extend their arms and i say vithout fear of contradiction that they lever were able to extend their conquest o the iiio grande they have at differ ent periods made attempts at conquering he country but have always been re mised or captured the trentlemnn has said that one mem jer of the texan congress had resided wrest of the xueces and hence he inferred hat all lhat country to the rio grande belonged to texas but admitting the met to be as he has stated the conclusion loes not follow the distance from the xueces to the iiio grande is some hun jred and sixty miles and even if it should be admitted that a few men residing in the immediate valley of the xueces should call themselves texans and consent to be governed by texan laws this does not justify the inference that the texans pos sessthe a lade country up lo tin rio gran u â– it is also true that men residing east ol the iiio grande are represented n he mexican congress and that fact as good for them as the other is for as again the gentleman hns told us that this whole countrv is included in one of the congressional districts in texas the state is i believe divided into two dis tricts but it is manifest that whatever may be the language of their law it can inciude no territory but what is rightfully theirs ao a"n > ne gentleman says that this country is included within one of our collection districts and is subject to our re venue laws this statement borrowed from the message of the president re quires great qualification it is true that a collection district has been established at corpus christi which happens to be on the west side of the xueces at its mouth but that our revenue system is extended west to the iiio grande is not true and though the mes-age seems designed to give that impression the documents sub mitted with the message expressly con tradict it general taylor in bis despatch dated corpus christi february 26 1846 informs the president that he had taken every opportunity of giving the impres sion to the mexicans " that the mt i icans living on this side of tlie rio grande will not be disturbed in any way by our troops that they will be protected in all their rights and usages : and that every thing which the army may need will be pur chased from them at fair prices i also stated that until the matter should be fi nally adjusted between the two govern ments the harbor of brasos saniino 0 would be open to the free use of the mex icans as ht rt tafore the same views were impressed upon the mexican customhouse officer at brasos santiago by cant har dee who commanded the escort which covered the reconnoissancc of padre isl and here mr cbaimao we have be authority of gen taylor fbr theiact that mexicans were in possession on the east bank of the rio grande lhat mexicans ir rt living there that the.v bad '' .- of the harbor of brasos santiago and a fiustom-h msc and emstom-kmse err th re how then . -.. < the menage declare with propriety or even in.th that our revenue laws were . rer the whole country between the nueces and the rio iiar.de ! en taylor further informs us that in approaching point isabel he fond it in flames and that on arriving there he learned lt he â€¢â– imitted the act had made his escape an 1 lhat with the excep tion ol two or tiibjc inoffensive mexicans the rest had left the matamoros this evidence is clear and conclusive thai the mex icans were in p ssi n i f the country on the east bank of the rio grande in fine the ex ecutive has long been in possession of this fact the s icretary of war mr marcy in his or der to gen taylor dated july 8 1845 says : this department is hut mexico has some military establishments on !.Â» oast side of the rio grande which are and or some time have been in the actual occupancy of her troops we have then th most conclusive evidence that mexico was in possession on the left bank of the rio grande bavin citizens living there custom-houses and military posts there what then becomes of the declaration of the gentle man from illinois or the declaration in ihe mes sage from which he borrowed it that we were in possession and that our laws were extended over the whole country between the nueces and the rio grande ! but the gentleman rom illinois has another a i which he du ces great reliance : hat at a certain lime an irmistice was concluded between the mexicans ind texans and one provision was lhat the mexican forces should be withdrawn to tho right bank of the rio grande now i would \ ask that gentleman whether he has any confidence in an argument of this son \ does not every one know that nothing is more com mon in uch cases than lo agree lhat the ar nies on both id shall be withdrawn from the scene of action ! 1 ,â€¢ who ever thought before ihal such an agreement fiirlhe time being would settle the-fiiture !>â€¢â€¢ indan i :';'.. â€¢ two countries ' flic mexican might with inure propriety r.dv ipon the facl thai general taylor look hi first misilion upon t to prove lhat that ri rer and not the rio grande was the true boun try ro be l iaiimi:ii the rumored settlement of the oregon uestfon is received by the press and i'eo de of the country with the greatest en husiasm the baltimon commercial ad ' rtist r says : " if in time of war we justly rejoice at 1 victory accompanied though it ma be y the slaughter of thousands because t gives some assurance of consequent hon orable peace how much more ought we o rejoice that questions threatening to re sult in war witii its vast destruction of ifeand property are without any sacri ice of national honor amicably adjusted the news we publish to-day that the sen ate by a vote so strong as to have almost die moral force of unanimity has advised he making of a ti at respecting oregon an the terms proposed will be hailed with universal joy the question that basso long loomed up like a portentous cloud in the political sky and has exerted such i malign influence upon business gener illy may now be considered as in effect settled the effect cannot fail to be in the highest degree suspicious and will be felt at once in every department and pur suit rapidly following in its train we hope will be a satisfactory adjustment of all difficulties with mexico and thus allay all disastrous influences of war's alarms to pursue unmolested the benign urts of peace the albany < '-â€¢â– <â– " commences a congratulatory article thus : wherever flew the glad tidings we published yesterday morning the loud and earnest response of every true and honest heart wasâ€”'thank be to the god of p ace ! all honnor to the senate ! the country is saved t and truly there was reason for this response the hand of providence is plainly visible in dispelling the tempest-cloud of war that hung low ering over us and that >< emed of late to be gathering blackness and threatening soon to bur in terrible fury upon the country and that hand 1 is been visible too in guid ..- - a dange rous path an 1 over a : i and trou bled sea first,th 11 the praise and :!.'â– - iful nation for averting a war xxith englan !, and per haps with the world tfu tariff the v a union and the new vork 1 post good locofocqp are endeavoring f lash the xew vork memfc of t -â– â– into the ranks and compel them to fire against tho tar..i the w - in turn very plaii y tells tb ' â€¢'" d * mocralic â– ) mi may dots no oj its bu this plain . to the official organ but tin is not allâ€”they add â€” r.v their p '! no quo tations from the 1 '. nations of derelictions of dutj fin ersouree will quicken them*to d i any thing which their judgmi nt cannot approvi ." a man ly indent n 'â– i ' â€¢' ' l ina tained al all hazards \\'< i part grill be made to bite the dust !â€” b '

The SA of NC considers this item in the public domain by U.S. law but responsibility for permissions rests with researchers.

Language

eng

FullText

i r annum in advance l : ' â€ž si per square for the first neut inserti n court or 'â– ' higher speech of mr hudson of m issachi 1 1 >â€ž//" subject of lh â€¢': v having obtained the 0^r ' chairman under ordina circ ' e s i should nol have inti ti ed myself upon ihe attention ofthecom aittee but we are now at war with a . tc â€¢ we are engaged in a con f c ( ] by the executive with f a nd in direct violation ol de fundamental principles of our consti u ; on . believing this to in the case 1 l el it inv dutv to bear testimony against | ure ; and i am the more in p.,,,1 to do i his because i was one of the w or as g ntlemcn on the other side of i [|, ,-,- have sneeringly said one of i i . /-â€ž,',/.- fin n who had the inde to follow their own sense of du | to vote a cording to the dictates r own consciences i bring no ac i others the subject was y i lie majority of the house in s irra sing form and gentle . honesty of purpose might differ poo the final vote as j claim sincerity r myself 1 do not question the sincerity r my friends whose minds were brought , adilferent re rjrcntleman from lupinis mr ;--..; in r ply lo my ii iendivoiii ohio air delano has told the committee that : is treason to the country to denounce e war now it is declared he seems to dmit that the remarks of the member pom ' ' . u would have been unobjection il they had been made before the war ill become a law but sir i recognise ii distinction under the circumstan the case we know the manner \ which thai bill was passed the hot haste rith which it was passed through this louse and i intend that it shall be known ilsewh so far as my feeble powers ixtend 1 intend the country shall know pith v hat rashness and indecent haste all lie evils of war have been brought upon he country a message was received torn the president of the united states ith lefi . too ir relations with mex o this message was accompanied with aluminous correspondence which passed etween our < jovernment and mexico and iso between the executive and general aylor the house resolved itself into 11 immittee of the \\ hole to consider the ct the d bate by a vote of the ominant party was limited to the short pace ol two hours one houranda half f that time was consumed in reading the orrespondence and even then one half ithe papers were not read the chair lanofthe committee on military affairs ailed up t bill which had been for some ime upon our tables which simply au borized the president to accept the servi ces of volunteers should they be necessa ry to defend our own soil or repel inva lion from our territory this bill was uu er debate for some thirty minutes but no ivhig was able to obtain fhe floor then or the first time a declaration of war vas mentioned and sundry amendments ti that effect wen offered when the ime for discussion expired the committee lassed upon the amendments and the bill vas immediately reported to the house md passed under the previous question â€” rhus sir was war declared after a de ite of some thirty minutes only and that confined entirely to a few brief remarks ior four members of the democratic par y not tin individual of the minority was permitted to say a word upon the great uid absorbing question of peace and war fhe house knows and the country shall know the hasty and inconsiderate man lier in which they have been involved in till the horrors of war a grosser instance f precipitancy and rashness cannot be found in the history of any assembly call ing itself a deliberative body thus sir were the whig party in the house compelled by a tyrannic majority lo pass iqipn this gi^-at question without a single word of debate on their part and without having one-half of the documents which were submitted by the president lead ! and now we are told by the mem bers of the same dominant party that it is treasonable to speak against a measure thus hastily & tyrannically forced through the house without debate amid seems of excitement and confusion opposition to this measure we are told would have been proper before it had passed but now being at war all opposition to the mea sure shows a want of patriotism and a disposition to take sides with the enemy rsir 1 admit no such principle 1 will sub mit to no such iron rule and has it come to this that all debate is to be suppressed in this hallâ€”that freedom of speech is to be denied to the representatives of a free people .' a doctrine more despotic was never advanced according to this doc trine il the president led on by vain am bition or by treasonable desire to raise himself to a throne on the ruins of our free government has the wickedness to tram ple upon the prerogatives of congress and commence an unjust war with a foreign power we are to submit in silence be cause hostilities have already commenced we are to stand by in meek submission and see our rights invaded and the pro perty and lives of our citizens wautonlj sacrificed because a drilled majority o political partisans may have succeeded ii pressing through congress without de bate an endorsement of executive usur pation i say sir i will countenance in such doctrine i will submit to no sucl dogma under ihe peculiar eircumstan ccs of the case 1 will speak and speak a freely this day as i would have spoken ot the carolina watchman bruner & james / > " kr:f.r a ciir.ci itan ai.i rouu editors sc proprietors \ is safe ' { new series rfi.er.s do tin am liberty geu'l harrison ( number 10 op volume iii salisbury n c friday july 3 1846 monday last and though 1 ho gentleman from illinois very modestly brands those as cowards who voted against ihe decla ration of war i will assure him that i have the moral courage to speak my own sentiments ; and neither his dogmatical declarations nor the awful nods of his head shall restrain me 1 will speak as i think regardless of the frowns or sneers of that gentleman or his riends 1 make no pre tensions to bravery but it frequently re pjiri s more moral courage to stand alone r with a small minority than it docs to ' follow the multitude in the moment of opular excitement mr chairman i was one of the four cen who voted against the passage of the kvar bill 1 voted against it for various easons and among others for this : 1 be ieve the preamble and its repetition in he first section of the bill to be untrue the preamble is as follows : " whereas y the act of mexico a state of war ex sts between that government and the united states now sir 1 regard this preamble as ut terly falseâ€”false as a whole and false in ach of its recitals it is not true that war existed before the passage of that act there had been a collision between our roops and those of mexico but a colli sion of forces in a single instance and at particular point does not amount lo war n the legal and constitutional sense ol mat term by the constitution of this country and of mexico the power to de dare war is vested in congress and nol n the president or the commanding gen eral we have no authority for saying hat the mexican government had declar ed war and we know lhat onr congress kid given no authority to ihe president to narch his troops upon a disputed territo ry in possession of the mexicans there s also a manifest distinction between lios ilitics and tear when war is proclaim ed by the constituted authority the whole lation and the world arc bound to take mgnizance of it and to govern them selves according to rules of constitutional nid interna!ional law put there may be utbreaks or collisions at a particular mint hostilities within a limited sphere md even letters of marque and reprisal nay bo granted to one or more injured iiibjects under certain circumstances and villi suitable limitations without being a a state of war in the legal sense of that ciiu when war exists neutral nations ire bound to take notice of it but the ame is not true in every case of hostility a'e have several examples in our own bis on which will illustrate this distinction the attack upon the chesapeake by an mglish cruiser before the late war with england was an act of hostility but nei hcr nation regarded it as a war the tame is true of the destruction of the car dine on the canadian frontier the cap ure of monterey a mexican town upon he pacific by commodore jones in l>ti:j s another case in point each of these ases shows that there may be acts of hos ility between the forces of the two pow ers and yet tlie relations of peace may be m'cscrvcd the declaration therefore hat war existed is not sustained by facts ive had no evidence of its existence at hat time on tlie contrary all the evi lence we had before us went to sustain lie opposite conclusion i could not there on 1 subscribe to the declaration that war tlready existed ihe preamble states not only that war sxists but that ii exists hi the act of the republic of mexico this declaration i ielicve to be untrue mexico with all ler faults has not in this case been the tggressor the statement which ascrib ed the war to the acts of mexico is clear y and conclusively contradicted by the acts in the case 1 might go back to the jommencement of the revolution in tex ts and show that the government of the nitcd siatcs have not maintained a pol cy strictly neutral as they were bound to lo put in the act of annexation wc not nly violated our own organic law but violated our faith pledged to mexico by solemn treaty put sir i will not rely upon that act unjust as i believe that to have been 1 will take the case as it stood after the joint resolution was passed and 1 believe that our conduct towards mexico is entirely indefensible texas was annexed to the united states and on the supposition that that act was valid what ditl it include ? what did we an nex ? the old province of texas was bounded on the southwest by the xueces which does not approach within one hun dred and fifty milesofthepositionoccupied general taylor the texas which has been annexed to the united states was the old province of texas ; the texas which formed one of the states or depart ments of mexico : the texas which re belled against the parent government and set up a government for herself in a word the texas which was bounded bv the river xueces it is true that the tex â– " since the delivery of tins speech we have receiv ed ihe manifesto of paredes dated â€¢â€¢ national palace t mexico april j l846 only en day before the col lision on the rio grande in which he says rnosl em phatically â€¢â€¢ / s mnly announce that i d i not declare war against the united states of america because it â€¢>< rtains to the unjust congress of the nation and not to the executive to settle definitely the reparation which so many aggressions 1 maud but the ol mexican territory which the united states i psin vaii is an urgent necessity and my responsibility would be immense before the nation did i no . . to rej i act like < icnr.es i . commanded an congress m 1830 passed an act declar ing that their republic was bounded wes terly by the rio grande but what title bad she to the territory lying west of her original limits she could have none but that of conquest and did she ever carry her conquest up to the rio grande ' xo thing like it everv attempt she made proved a signal failure the population upon the iiio grande never rebelled a gainst mexico were never conquered by texas or submitted to texan law or au thority texas made several attempts to plant her standard upon the banks of that river but in every attempt her forces were either captured or driven back ? with what propriety then can we maintain that the wilderness or desert country be tween the xueces and rio grande ever belonged to texas a large strip of country on the left or eastern bank of the iiio grande has ever been in possession of mexico and we have acknowledged that possession both before and after an nexation at the last session of congress an act was passed allowing a drawback upon foreign merchandise imported into this country and exported to canada and mexico and among the places mention ed in mexico was santa fe and during this session m secretary walker in his report on the finances says " the act of march 3d is 15 allowing a drawback on foreign imports exported from certain of our ports to canada and also to santa fe and chihuahua in mexico has gone to some extent into effect and is beginning to produce the most happy result here sir we have the most positive re cognition on the part of our government that santa fe belongs to mexico and is included within her lawful territory but every one knows that santa fe is on he east side of the rio grande how then can it be pretended for a single moment that the whole country or any part of the country bordering upon that river belongs to texas and hence is a part of the uni ted states ? there is no authority at all for that plea not one particle of proof that the iiio grande is our true boundary except the act of the texan congress and that we have confessed to be invalid by admitting santa fe a town on the east side of that river to be a part of the mex ican territory at that place we have a consul ; there we have been paying duties oil merchandise ; and when the expedi tion to santa fe was captured our gov ernment interceded with the mexican go vernment for the release of our citizens admitting in the correspondence itself that santa fe rightfully belonged to the mex \ ican republic though our government had by public acts acknowledged the country bordering upon the rio grande on tbe east to he Â» . part of the republic of mexico the trea ty got up by presdient tyler and his se cretary of state attempted clandestinely to obtain all the territory east of that ri ver the language of tiie treaty was ge neral it provided that the republic of texas with all its territory should be ce ded to the united states but sir though this language was general and seemed to imply that the country ceded was nothing more than texas properâ€”the country bounded westerly by the xuecesâ€”yet when the president was pressed by the senate to furnish a map and description df the country to be annexed he laid be fore them a map of the country to the rio grande with the clause of the act of the texan congress churning all the country 3ast of that river but mr calhoun the secretary of state though he had allixed his name to that stealthy treaty and was the master-spirit in the whole transaction feeling conscious as it would seem that the act of texan congress had no validi ty in his note to mr green our charge at mexico enjoined it upon him to assure the mexican government that the bound aries were not lixed and that this gov ernment would exercise a liberal policy in relation to that subject his words are these you are enjoined also by the president to assure the mexican govern that it is his desire to settle all questions between the two countries which may grow out of the treaty or any other cause on the most liberal ami satisfactory terms including that of boundary ,* and with that view the minister who has been re cently appointed will be shortly sent with adequate powers in the same note he directs mr green to assure the mexican government " that the government of the united states has taken every precaution to make the terms of the treaty as little objectionable to mexico as possible : and among others has left the boundary of texas without specification so that the boundary might be an open question to be fairly and fully discussed and settled according to the rights of each and the mutual interest and security of the two countries xow sir does not this amount to a full confession on the part of mr calhoun that the iiio grande was not the boundary of texas if he relied upon the act of the texan congress why permit the line to be drawn in question and propose to sub mit it to negotiation ? the fact is that the act of the texan congress is a perfect nullity xo man knows better than mr calhoun that a boundary is a question to be settled by two nations and any decla ration by one is c ntirely void settling territorial limits is to be regarded in the light of a contract and as necessarily im plies two parties as any other contract whatever hence it is the very perfec tion of absurdity to rely upon the declar ation of texas as deciding this question it is therefore a matter of profound as tonishment that the president in his late message should so presume upon the ig norance of congress as to present that e4ij parte act of texas as having any bearing upon this question but the treat was rejected by the senate ; and no objection was urged with more force than the one we arc considering that it attempted to carry the western boundary of texas to the iiio grande far beyond the true lim its of texas the distinguished senator from mis souri mr benton when speaking a gainst the treaty said " the one half of the department of xew mexico with its capital becomes the property of the united states ; an an gle of chilihuahua also becomes ours ; a part of the department of coahuila not populated on the left bank which we take but commanded from the right by mexi can authorities ; the same of tamaulipas which covers both sides of the river from its mouth for some hundred miles up and all the left bank of which is in the power and possession of mexico these in ad dition to old texasâ€”these parts of four statesâ€”these towns and villagesâ€”these people and territoryâ€”these flocks and herdsâ€”this slice of the republic of mexi co two thousand miles long and some hundred broadâ€”all this our president has cut off from its mother empire and pre sents to us and declares it ours till the senate rejects it ! " the treaty in all that relates to the roundary of the iiio grande is an act of inparalleled outrage on mexico it is the eizure of two thousand miles of her ter itory without a word of explanation with ler and by virtue of a treaty with texas o which she is no party " having shown the effects of the trea ty on the iiio grande frontier i take up he treaty itself and under all its aspects ind in its whole extent and assume four tositions in relation to it viz : " 1 that the ratification of the treaty would be of itself a war between the united states and mexico " 2 that it would be an unjust war 3 that it would be"a war unconsti utiunalh made " 4 that it would be war upon a iceah md groundless pretext the treaty failing the subject at the iext session was brought forward in a form to obviate in some degree this ob cction of the senator of missouri the oint resolution of annexation provides hat the " territory properly incltitled uith n and rightfully belonging to the jiepub ic of texas may be erected into a stated vic but the first condition imposed upon fexas in the resolution was this â€¢' said state to be formed subject to the adjust nent by this government of all questions f boundary that may arise with our gov ernment here sir we have a full recognition if the unsettled state of the western boun lary of texas the language is selected villi cautionâ€”"the territory properly in cluded within and rightfully belonging to texas and this is followed with aprovis on that all questions of boundary which nay arise wilh other governments shall be settled by the united states and that oth r government these provisions can lave no significancy on the supposition hat the boundary mentioned by tlie tex in congress is valid not only the reso utions of annexation implied that the boundary of texas did not extend to the iiio grande but mr c j ingersoll the chairman of the committee on foreign affairs who brought the subject before he house and opened the debate gave as the fullest assurance that it did not ap proach within a hundred miles of that riv er his declaration is this : the terri torial limits of texas are marked in the configuration of this continent by an al mighty hand the stupendous deserts be tween the rivers xueces and bravo rio jrrande and the natural boundaries be tween the anglo-saxon and the mauri tanian races there ends the valley of the west there mexico begins while peace is cherished that boundary will be sacred aot till the spirit of conquest ra ges will the people on either side molest or mix with each other he virtually admits that we shall have no right even up to the desert by virtue of annexing texas for he speaks of buying our peace with mexico and obtaining the country up to the great desert by the offer of mo ney " although the public correspon dence between the two aorth american republics says he " has become angry i am happy to be authorized to assure the house that those best acquainted with toe true state of things apprehend little or no danger of warâ€”the main sinew of war money will heal the breach and the contro versy amicably i ere is a frank confess ion that the contemplated boundary was the great desert and even that could be obtained only by the payment of money and what has been the policy of our gov ernment since the adoption of that joinj resolution ? why the president informed us in his annual message that he had ap pointed a distinguished citizen of louisi ana and sent him to mexico to adjusi and definitely settle all pending differen ces between the two countries including those of boundary between mexico and the state of texas and in his recent mo sage be says that mr slidell " was en trusted with full powers to adjust both the questions of the texas boundary and of in demnification of our citizens " now in view of all these numerous confessions on tin part ol our own gov ernment is it not perfectly preposterous in the executive to maintain that our ti tle is clear and unquestionable up to the rio grande ? have we any better claim to the country up to ihe bank of that river opposite matamoros than we have in the neighborhood of santa fe i the president in his late message relies upon the act of the texan congress which made the iiio grande through its whole course the boundary when he himself through his secretary of the treasury has told that santa fe on the east of that river is included in the republic of mexi co but sir while i am upon this subject i wish to pay my respects to the gentle men from illinois mr douglass who fa vored us with his views upon the subject yesterday the gentlemen gave us as rare a specimen of advancing and re treating of playing off and on as we of ten witness in the first place he at tempted to substantiate our title to the whole country east of the rio grande bv referring to the early boundaries of tex as but after he had demonstrated that lo his own satisfaction he confessed lhat these old boundaries and conseqently his argument founded upon them was noth ing to his purpose the question he said ivas not how the province of texas was sounded but how the lit public 0 f texas was bounded in this he yielded all ar guments drawn from the boundaries pri r to ln.'jg : and then to show that he had 10 settled principle upon the subject he eturned to the question of the early bound lry and referred to tlie argument of my renerable colleague mr adams when ie was secretin of state this vacil ating course this employing and reject ng almost every argument in succession tas left but little which requires anv re ly there are however a few points vhich demand a passing notice the gentleman told us that there were some soldiers in the revolutionary army of tex is who came from the country west of he xueces and from this he argued that ill that country fell within the republic if texas but does not every one see he utter fallacy of this reasoning ? i pre ume there might have been some sol iiers in the texan army from the countrv vest of the xueces but to every one west f that river there were i presume ten rom the country east of the sabine nd if this fact proves that the country jetween the xueces and the iiio grande â€¢ s included in texas the same argument vould prove that a large section of the u states was rightfully included in that tepublic but sir the question is not rom what country or section of country lie soldiers came but over what country lid they extend their arms and i say vithout fear of contradiction that they lever were able to extend their conquest o the iiio grande they have at differ ent periods made attempts at conquering he country but have always been re mised or captured the trentlemnn has said that one mem jer of the texan congress had resided wrest of the xueces and hence he inferred hat all lhat country to the rio grande belonged to texas but admitting the met to be as he has stated the conclusion loes not follow the distance from the xueces to the iiio grande is some hun jred and sixty miles and even if it should be admitted that a few men residing in the immediate valley of the xueces should call themselves texans and consent to be governed by texan laws this does not justify the inference that the texans pos sessthe a lade country up lo tin rio gran u â– it is also true that men residing east ol the iiio grande are represented n he mexican congress and that fact as good for them as the other is for as again the gentleman hns told us that this whole countrv is included in one of the congressional districts in texas the state is i believe divided into two dis tricts but it is manifest that whatever may be the language of their law it can inciude no territory but what is rightfully theirs ao a"n > ne gentleman says that this country is included within one of our collection districts and is subject to our re venue laws this statement borrowed from the message of the president re quires great qualification it is true that a collection district has been established at corpus christi which happens to be on the west side of the xueces at its mouth but that our revenue system is extended west to the iiio grande is not true and though the mes-age seems designed to give that impression the documents sub mitted with the message expressly con tradict it general taylor in bis despatch dated corpus christi february 26 1846 informs the president that he had taken every opportunity of giving the impres sion to the mexicans " that the mt i icans living on this side of tlie rio grande will not be disturbed in any way by our troops that they will be protected in all their rights and usages : and that every thing which the army may need will be pur chased from them at fair prices i also stated that until the matter should be fi nally adjusted between the two govern ments the harbor of brasos saniino 0 would be open to the free use of the mex icans as ht rt tafore the same views were impressed upon the mexican customhouse officer at brasos santiago by cant har dee who commanded the escort which covered the reconnoissancc of padre isl and here mr cbaimao we have be authority of gen taylor fbr theiact that mexicans were in possession on the east bank of the rio grande lhat mexicans ir rt living there that the.v bad '' .- of the harbor of brasos santiago and a fiustom-h msc and emstom-kmse err th re how then . -.. < the menage declare with propriety or even in.th that our revenue laws were . rer the whole country between the nueces and the rio iiar.de ! en taylor further informs us that in approaching point isabel he fond it in flames and that on arriving there he learned lt he â€¢â– imitted the act had made his escape an 1 lhat with the excep tion ol two or tiibjc inoffensive mexicans the rest had left the matamoros this evidence is clear and conclusive thai the mex icans were in p ssi n i f the country on the east bank of the rio grande in fine the ex ecutive has long been in possession of this fact the s icretary of war mr marcy in his or der to gen taylor dated july 8 1845 says : this department is hut mexico has some military establishments on !.Â» oast side of the rio grande which are and or some time have been in the actual occupancy of her troops we have then th most conclusive evidence that mexico was in possession on the left bank of the rio grande bavin citizens living there custom-houses and military posts there what then becomes of the declaration of the gentle man from illinois or the declaration in ihe mes sage from which he borrowed it that we were in possession and that our laws were extended over the whole country between the nueces and the rio grande ! but the gentleman rom illinois has another a i which he du ces great reliance : hat at a certain lime an irmistice was concluded between the mexicans ind texans and one provision was lhat the mexican forces should be withdrawn to tho right bank of the rio grande now i would \ ask that gentleman whether he has any confidence in an argument of this son \ does not every one know that nothing is more com mon in uch cases than lo agree lhat the ar nies on both id shall be withdrawn from the scene of action ! 1 ,â€¢ who ever thought before ihal such an agreement fiirlhe time being would settle the-fiiture !>â€¢â€¢ indan i :';'.. â€¢ two countries ' flic mexican might with inure propriety r.dv ipon the facl thai general taylor look hi first misilion upon t to prove lhat that ri rer and not the rio grande was the true boun try ro be l iaiimi:ii the rumored settlement of the oregon uestfon is received by the press and i'eo de of the country with the greatest en husiasm the baltimon commercial ad ' rtist r says : " if in time of war we justly rejoice at 1 victory accompanied though it ma be y the slaughter of thousands because t gives some assurance of consequent hon orable peace how much more ought we o rejoice that questions threatening to re sult in war witii its vast destruction of ifeand property are without any sacri ice of national honor amicably adjusted the news we publish to-day that the sen ate by a vote so strong as to have almost die moral force of unanimity has advised he making of a ti at respecting oregon an the terms proposed will be hailed with universal joy the question that basso long loomed up like a portentous cloud in the political sky and has exerted such i malign influence upon business gener illy may now be considered as in effect settled the effect cannot fail to be in the highest degree suspicious and will be felt at once in every department and pur suit rapidly following in its train we hope will be a satisfactory adjustment of all difficulties with mexico and thus allay all disastrous influences of war's alarms to pursue unmolested the benign urts of peace the albany < '-â€¢â– < emed of late to be gathering blackness and threatening soon to bur in terrible fury upon the country and that hand 1 is been visible too in guid ..- - a dange rous path an 1 over a : i and trou bled sea first,th 11 the praise and :!.'â– - iful nation for averting a war xxith englan !, and per haps with the world tfu tariff the v a union and the new vork 1 post good locofocqp are endeavoring f lash the xew vork memfc of t -â– â– into the ranks and compel them to fire against tho tar..i the w - in turn very plaii y tells tb ' â€¢'" d * mocralic â– ) mi may dots no oj its bu this plain . to the official organ but tin is not allâ€”they add â€” r.v their p '! no quo tations from the 1 '. nations of derelictions of dutj fin ersouree will quicken them*to d i any thing which their judgmi nt cannot approvi ." a man ly indent n 'â– i ' â€¢' ' l ina tained al all hazards \\'< i part grill be made to bite the dust !â€” b '